FIRST WORLD WAR: Six Nidderdale sons who survived

A band of Nidderdale brothers who went to fight for their country during the First World War were all lucky enough to return home alive.

The Newbould family from Dacre saw six sons enlist to fight on the front line, including Mary Arrand’s father, Samuel Newbould.

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In 1916 the Harrogate Advertiser published photos of the brothers and praised the ‘Patriotic Nidderdale Family’, with photographs of Shadrach Newbould, Samuel Newbould, Robert Newbould, Meshack Newbould, Tommy Newbould and Arthur Newbould .

Four of the Newbould brothers joined the

army within a few weeks of the announcement of war, with the other two joining before 1916.

Mrs Arrand’s uncle Tommy Newbould had emigrated to Canada in the years before the war but returned to fight for Great Britain. Although two of the Newbould brothers suffered serious injuries, they all returned home from the front, unlike millions of others.

“It is remarkable to think they all went to war and all came back alive,” said Mrs Arrand.

“I don’t know if they ever met up or saw each other when they were away.”

Samuel Newbould was stationed in Germany after the war, but returned home to work on as a farm hand. He had three sons and four daughters including Mrs Arrand, who was born in

1928.

She was 11 when war broke out in 1939. “My father never really talked about the war, he must have had difficult memories,” she said.

“In those days, there wasn’t counselling after the war, they just came home and had to get on with their lives and make the best of things.

“It wasn’t until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 that he started to talk about it.”

Mrs Arrand’s three brothers all fought in the Second World War.

“My father must have worried, he had experienced war himself.

“We didn’t know what to expect when the war broke out, that is probably why my father started talking about the first war, to let us know what it might be like.

“I suppose it must have been worse for people when the war started in 1914, they mustn’t have known what to expect either, and they didn’t have any other stories to compare it to.”